Concordia College and University

Discussion in 'Accreditation Discussions (RA, DETC, state approva' started by ctrieble, Nov 26, 2003.

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  1. ctrieble

    ctrieble member

    I was stupid enough to recently pay $699.00 US for an MBA from Concordia College (Liberia). When I found out their degrees are next to worthless, I tried to dispute the charge only to be threatened with attornies and bad credit. Here is an email I received from Ron Pridgen.

    We believe that this issue has been resolved.

    Comments:
    > I am dissatisfied with their level of service

    Our level of service, as advertised from our website, is that Concordia enrollees receive their mail-order degree and supporting credentials by certified mail within +-20 days from submitting their orders. Mr Trieble's order has been shipped on 21 November through international certifried priority mail, exactly as advertised.

    > they are in fact a degree mill

    False. ''Degree mills'' sell unaccredited paperwork. Concordia College & University is accredited by 3 Government Ministries of Education, which is verifiable from said government offices simply by contacting them. Our website lists all contact addresses and numbers.

    > I found out that their degrees are worthless

    You ''found out'' by sending us e-mails every day quoting a website called degreeinfo.com, pulled up and operated by a genuine degree mill operator going by the name of John Bear. His spoofed 'discussion' site has been pulled up exactly to defame properly recognized correspondence schools. The ABOUT page of our website clarifies to all Concordia applicants how we are accredited, by whom, and how our Ministry of Education accredited degrees can be converted to nationally accredited U.S. qualifications.

    > tried to resolve this with the merchant only to be threatened with attorneys

    Well of course. If you place an order for an accredited degree and receive what you paid for, then try to dispute your order, you are committing a criminal offense.

    > I am making complaints to the Better Business Bureau FBIUS Secret Service and the Federal Trade Commission

    Complaning about ? Your order that has been shipped exactly as guaranteed to you, and our services offered exactly as advertised ? What a complaint.

    > Ron Pridgen his real name is Kristiian De Ley

    False. I the undersigned Ronald B. Pridgen am Concordia College's admissions officer since four years, while Dr De Ley is the college's chairman.

    > king of the diploma mill gurus

    Concordia College's president is not a king of anything. He holds the diplomatic position of High Commissioner of Education to the UN Humanitarian Organization.

    The mere fact that the diploma mill operators at degreeinfo.com defame accredited schools in order to legitimize their own scams, does not constitute a reason for accredited schools to grant refunds.

    Correspondence closed.

    Sincerely
    Admissions / Ron Pridgen


    If you are satisfied with the resolution, no more
    action is necessary.

    If you feel that the issue has not been resolved to your
    satisfaction please follow the link below to reopen the
    issue.

    http://www.2checkout.com/cgi-bin/my-order/s.pl?a=71853-10541545&b=N&c=8E65C847638420D699C60DC71263D46B&d=1

    You may also contact [email protected] directly for assistance, if you are
    unable to resolve the issue with the seller.

    Thank You
    I am now out $699.00 US dollars for a piece of worthless paper I have yet to receive.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 26, 2003
  2. MichaelR

    MichaelR Member

    I would still dispute the charges. But before you do that, ask for a verifiable list of RA schools that will accept transfer credits. And don't believe the hype. I wouldn't be suprised if they aren't part of the group behind all the attacks on Degreeinfo.

    Michael
     
  3. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    It's a sad and expensive lesson learned, Mr. Trieble. Thanks for sharing it. Perhaps it may at least help warn others.

    I guess I am pleased that the notorious Mr. De Ley still sees me (and DegreeInfo, which I have absolutely nothing to do with starting or running) as a threat to his wellbeing, which indeed we are.

    You could probably get a Small Claims Court judgment against these crooks, but that would be for self-satisfaction only; the chances of collecting are negligible.

    John Bear
    Degree mill consultant to the FBI since 1979
    Admitted as Expert Witness on degree mills in federal court
    Co-author of forthcoming book, "Degree Mills: the billion-dollar fraud
    that has sold more than a million fake degrees" (2004)
     
  4. AWN

    AWN New Member

    Dr. Bear,
    If the name of the degree mill is known, if the name of the person that runs the mill is known and if there is proof that degrees have been sold, isn't it easy to prosecute that person and close the mill, or isn't it that easy?
     
  5. bgossett

    bgossett New Member

    The owner lives in Antwerp, Belgium and operates his mills through off-shore incorporations in the Commonwealth of Dominica.
     
  6. MichaelR

    MichaelR Member

    has anyone read the Note on the so called accreditation page?

    http://www.concordia-college.net/pages/145824/index.htm


    Cracks me up! They also claim to have the same education level as an NA school. This is based on an evaluation done by by NAHE and they want $400 for a Course by Course evaluation that only cost $125 at what I would consider to be a more reputable companies.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 26, 2003
  7. AWN

    AWN New Member

    Yes I should have thought of that, living in one country, incorporating in another country. This indeed makes it difficult to track them down.

    What about cooperating agreements and arrangements with other countries to try and help with the problem.
     
  8. Dennis Ruhl

    Dennis Ruhl member

    If a Dominican registered company operated out of Belgium sues an American resident for an internet transaction, what court does it take place in? Wish I knew.

    Being sued normally allows for discovery, in which you get to examine relevant documents of the plaintiff. I am not sure about small claims court. Costs, however, could be wicked.
     
  9. roysavia

    roysavia New Member

    When a foreign owned business registers a subsidiary or branch of the business in another country, it can be difficult to prosecute such an entity. If the company has a legally registered trade name and pays state taxes based on revenues, a plaintiff may not have a case. You pay for your tuition in one country but the administration and diploma is issued from another country. Somehow I doubt that the Department of Treasury or the IRS has any legislation in place to prevent this. As long as your paying your taxes and overhead expenses, you are legal to operate in that jurisdiction.
     
  10. AWN

    AWN New Member

    No wonder it's a billion dollar industry, with on clear cut vision to end it.
     
  11. uncle janko

    uncle janko member

    It should be pointed out that this institution has no connection of any kind with the various colleges and universities named "Concordia" which are affiliated with various branches of the Lutheran Church.
    It is also not affiliated with the phony "Concordia Theologica Seminary" with which a poster on this board has been affiliated in the past.
    The name sure is popular among those who traffic in creative assertions. I wonder why.
     
  12. ctrieble

    ctrieble member

    Attornies

    Concordia College and University is suing me as of this morning
    11/26/2003. This is the email I got from the 'plume de nom'
    Ron Pridgen.

    > Bring your attornies on...

    We already did so this morning, sir. They are extremely
    interested in investigating ties between Trieble and Chip
    White, known on public discussion forums to be a sought criminal
    in the State of Delaware, said to operate fake clinics and to
    sollicit funds to pay for law suits against himself and his
    accomplices :

    http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=8809d2d5.0310291344.1d21a15a%40posting.google.com&output=gplain

    http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=907ca1d8.0310232237.52a48a13%40posting.google.com&output=gplain

    We also care to remind you of the legal confidentiality clause
    in all e-mails sent out by Concordia College & University.

    End of your show, sir. All further e-mails from you and/or from
    your accomplices will be reported by our attorneys to your ISP and
    to the FBI Internet Fraud section.

    Sincerely
    Ron Pridgen / Head of Admissions

    ---
    This email message is for the sole use of
    the intended recipient(s) and may contain errors,
    confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized
    review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited.
    If you are not the intended recipient, please contact
    the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the
    original message.
    ---
    Concordia College & University does NOT spam. If you
    received spoofed e-mails pretending to originate from
    any of the school's e-mail addresses, please forward the
    referring message to us INCLUDING the spammer's extended
    headers and ISP information, allowing Concordia College to
    take legal steps against the spammer abusing our public
    e-mail addresses.

    Me: Interogative, WTF, Over?
     
  13. chrislarsen

    chrislarsen New Member

    Hmmm sounds familiar

    That quote from the Liberian Concordia representative sure sounds familiar. IT sounds a great deal like the posts on usenet that have basically shut down alt.education.distance. Wonder if there is a connection???

    Chris .. a DL masters level graduate of one of the "REAL" Concordia University system members in Mequon WIsconsin.
     
  14. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    "...Chip White, known on public discussion forums to be a sought criminal
    in the State of Delaware..."

    Well at least he can't accuse Mr. Trieble of consorting with me, since he has already reported that I've been sent off to prison for twenty years.
     
  15. Frankie

    Frankie member

    Is this the same jerk who told everyone that you died of influenza?
     
  16. uncle janko

    uncle janko member

    Hey Chris, notice it's the WELS guy from up the road who sticks up for YOUR Concordias???:p
     
  17. chrislarsen

    chrislarsen New Member

    WELS! Harumph!! Even those infernal heathens can be right sometime :D Actually I am not even a member of any Lutheran denomination and I fear the LCMS probably regards me as an even worse heathen than a member of WELS :) :) When I defended my thesis in psychology I half expected the chair of my comittee would ask me about Melanchton's commentaries on the Augsburg Confessions :) However, all joking aside, I have a big soft spot for Lutherans of all stripes !!!!!! Yes WELS folks included!!:)
     
  18. uncle janko

    uncle janko member

    Two things.

    It's Melanchthon, not Melanchton.

    There is only one official Augsburg Confession, although Melanchthon kept tinkering with it. The tinkerings have no particular standing, since they were done without consent of the signatories, and tend to show indecision on Philip's part.

    No, actually three.

    You needn't worry. They don't regard anybody as worse than us.

    Best wishes, Janko
     
  19. ctrieble

    ctrieble member

    Retards

    I wonder if Ron and Kristiaan know they now have a dedicated thread that shows exactly what kind of retards they really are.

    I believe Kristiaan holds a BA and PhD from another Diploma Mill called Trinity College and University based in South Dakota...LOL.

    I think Concordia's lawyers are in SD also. This is laughble because South Dakota is about to pass legislation like ND, Oregon and New Jersey that would make it a crime (misdemeanor) to use 'fake' credentials to obtain employment.
     
  20. ctrieble

    ctrieble member

    Freedom of Speech

    Ron Pridgen: We also care to remind you of the legal confidentiality clause
    in all e-mails sent out by Concordia College & University.

    This is laughable as well!!! ROTFL

    Doesn't The 1rst Amendment of our Constitution give us the right to freedom of speech??

    I don't know what the freedom of speech laws are like on Dominica or in Liberia, but I can freely post anything I want here as long as it is not sexually or racially offensive.

    Peace,
    Chris Trieble
    B.A. Loyola College
    Thinking about an MBA this time from a real RA college
     

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